Iron Bear
by Amberthepirate
Summary: Or, 5 times Tony was Captain America's teddy bear, and that one time when he wasn't. FLUFF, SLASH, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
1. The First Time

"Hey guys, check it out."

"What now Clint?" Natasha groaned.

Tuesdays was always without fail the Avengers movie night. 7 O' clock on the dot, or, nineteen hundred hours as Steve liked to put it. It wasn't a planned thing; there was no timeslot, but rather strange phenomenon, in that everyone in the tower seemed to gravitate towards Tony's floor on Tuesday night. They argued it was because he had the biggest TV and film selection, Tony argued that they just wanted to eat the food in his fridge which as always stocked with goodies.

Films with lots of references were no good for Thor or Steve, who were taking baby steps into trying to understand the strange world they'd found themselves in. Tony, surprisingly, hated Sci-Fi, as the _'science was all wrong'_. Natasha and Clint put their collective boot down on spy movies, and Bruce was fine with everything except romantic comedies; they made him cry.

This night, a Tuesday, obviously, everyone was present and fully absorbed into _Forrest Gump_, with its timeless feel and captivating storytelling; was a unanimous choice. Well, everyone was absorbed save for two of the Avengers; Steve and Tony. They'd fallen asleep. They had been on opposite ends of the couch with Bruce in between (to curb any bickering) but with Bruce now sitting cross legged on the floor they had the couch all to themselves... and the two had chosen to get closer, very close, awkwardly close. Steve was deep in sleep, with his one huge arm around Tony's shoulders and another around his waist; essentially keeping the smaller man securely huddled to his chest. Tony was out cold, snoring softly, and made no indication that he found his current situation uncomfortable.

"...Huh." said Natasha, narrowing her eyes. "Interesting."

"Should we..?" Bruce asked.

Thor shook his head. "Nay. Let our friends sleep, it has been a tiring day, we shall wake them when the movie is over."

And that's what they did.

When the picture blackened and the end credits began to roll, the team got up, stretched and yawned and Bruce checked his watch.

"Nine thirty." He confirmed, and he looked over at Tony and Steve, who hadn't moved. "Let's...try and get them up. Clint?"

Clint sniggered. "Can't I take a photo first? This is grade A blackmail material right here."

Natasha whacked him lightly on the arm. "No blackmail. Just help Bruce move them."

The archer grumbled under his breath but still positioned himself on Steve's left with Bruce on his right. Gingerly, they worked to try and prise the two sleeping men apart. Tony weighed very little, and Bruce made a mental note to talk to Tony about the importance of eating at regular intervals. The Captain was all muscle and much heavier, his arms were like vices latched onto the genius. When they finally prised Tony away, the reaction was immediate; Steve twitched and mumbled in his sleep and reach out with his hands to grasp Tony back. Before Bruce could pull away Steve got a fist full of Tony's shirt and tugged, hard. The room was quiet then Steve made a long, whiney, high pitched noise which was so unexpected that Bruce relished Tony at once, and, Steve curled up in a ball taking the genius with him; then sighed, once again sleeping soundly. Their noses bumped each other as they shifted into a comfortable way to snooze. Amazing, Tony didn't make a peep while all this was happening.

"Riiiiight." Clint drawled. "I say we leave them where they are, they can sort themselves out in the morning." He then chuckled. "Oh man, Stark's face when he wakes up..."

The others more or less nodded along with that suggestion and carefully crept around the couch and left Tony and Steve alone. Tony's arc Reactor glowed brightly when the light flickered off, sending bluish rays throughout the dark space.


	2. The Second Time

Clint would have, indeed, loved the look on Tony's face when he finally woke up the next morning. Letting out a very dignified squeak, Tony flailed out of Steve's grip and sent both men plummeting to the floor.

After a good round of harsh language they mutually agreed never to speak of the incident again.

As is things weren't awkward enough already.

Too put it bluntly, Tony and Steve didn't get along. Sure they could fight together, in the field they were a formidable team, Steve was a master strategist and combined with Tony's intelligence and Ironman armour they could've save New York from Loki all by themselves. That is, if Loki didn't have an enormous army of flying lizards.

Tony thought Steve was disappointed that he wasn't more like his father, and Steve thought that Tony thought he was a useless fossil they'd thawed from ice, but, of course, they never confirmed these feelings with each other. They just went on assuming.

It all made for long and tense rides of the Helicarrier.

The genius had only taken out the suitcase armour, he'd been in a very important (albeit boring) meeting when he was summoned to assemble. Monster of the week was a large, slimy green fish-like creature that reminded Tony of swamp thing. Somebody obviously had decided that zapping their pet frog with a I-don't-know-what-this-does-but-lets-test-it-ray. It was over pretty quick, leaving a green stain on the sidewalk, the, after Steve had yelled at Tony for using excessive force; the avengers bundled themselves on the helicarrier for the inevitable de-brief.

The captain had sat down on a seat near a window, and dropped off to sleep when the massive plane slash ship took off. He must've been exhausted, Tony considered, as he looked over from his own seat. Then he thought how funny would it be if he were to draw a pair of glasses on the man's face with a sharpie. The others were scattered around the passenger area, mostly quiet except for Thor and Clint who were playing Pokémon.

"Good archer, would you exchange my fiery dragon beast for your purple ghostly monster?"

"...you mean your Charazard for my Haunter? Sure."

Tony chuckled under his breath watching them. Getting the team all brand new 3Ds's as a 'welcome home' gift may have been a bit much, but everyone seemed perfectly okay with the free handheld's, and, often Thor would exclaim to Tony how much he enjoyed 'collecting the pixel creatures and become the world's greatest Pokémon trainer'. All except Steve, that is, who had taken the thing, sure, but Tony was sure he was inwardly sneering at Tony's arrogant display of wealth (Of course that's what is was) and shoved the box to the back of his wardrobe and never opened it.

Well, not that it mattered, too hell with him.

Tony felt the urge for a drink, a strong one. So he got up but as he did the Helicarrier was suddenly hit by an unusually strong bout of turbulence. Normally Tony would be fine, but as he'd packed his armour away in its case he was flung like an old sock towards the sleeping Steve. He landed with an ungraceful OMMF more or less in the other man's lap. After recovering, Tony sought to get out of this mess immediately but when he went to move he was stopped by a sudden weight around his waist; Cap's arm. Tony blinked and tried to untangle himself and wake up the captain but all that happened was that Steve made some...interesting noises, like those a grumpy toddler would make after being woken from a nap, and grabbed Tony tight, too tight.

"I need an adult" Tony squeaked as he was being hugged to death.

Steve was relentless in his hold, and he nuzzled Tony's soft brown hair and mumbled in his sleep. "Nnnn...no."

Tony was out of breath and was truly thankful that the others were too preoccupied to notice what was going on. Damn super soldier strength, if only Tony could reach his armour. He settled on letting Steve sleep, for the moment, and then sneaking off when his grip loosened. That would take too long right?

Steve's grip never got any looser, and the team found him and Cap fast asleep when they finally landed back in New York.


	3. The Third Time

The stakeout had been, in Tony's humble opinion; a complete waste of time.

The only thing that was achieved was that the whole team (apart from Steve and Thor) got colds from sitting in a freezing bunker all night. The bad guy didn't turn up as expected and Tony was ready to call it quits 3 hours after the initial time he was supposed to show. But oh no, Captain American simply wouldn't hear of it, yes, he appreciated that everyone was tired, soaked (it was raining), and chilly, but he _promised_ if they waited a little longer, then they could sleep. Taking turns for vigil of course.

Tony volunteered first, so Steve couldn't have the satisfaction of being a martyr, but the man gave Tony this... odd look, and said. "Thank you, Tony, that's big of you." And for some reason, that made the genius feel a fluttery sort of feeling in his chest; and it wasn't an Arc Reactor malfunction.

It was probably nothing. Defiantly nothing.

It was quiet, save for Thor's snoring, which sounded a bit like a bear with a chest cough. Clint and Natasha were silent in sleep, bundled away in a corner of the bunker; but ready to leap up and slit throats any time. Bruce was between Thor and Steve, sucking furiously at his thumb in his sleep, but otherwise peaceful. Tony sniggered, making a mental note to tease the hell out of his science buddy later. Then finally was Steve, on his belly, curled up in a too small sleeping bag.

He looked young, really young, hell he was probably the youngest of the group... years as an ice cube notwithstanding. His blonde hair was mussed, and his face was slack.

Tony tried pointedly not to stare, and instead continued on his lonely watch, eventually however, even he started to feel the pangs of tiredness, and with his eyelids drooping he went to wake up Steve; it was his turn next.

"Steve?" he whispered. "Steve?"

The man didn't answer, but instead made a contorted face of pain in his sleep. He looked like he was fighting something that Tony couldn't see. A nightmare maybe?

Tony bit his lip, he wanted to leave Steve be, because if he woke the soldier up now he might attack the genius thinking he was still in his nightmare. But, for whatever reason, Tony continued to try and rouse the captain as gently as possible. He put his hands around Steve's surprisingly broad shoulders and shook him, but got no response. It was dark in the bunker, and only Tony's light from his chest penetrated the night.

Suddenly, Steve did lash out, but not the way Tony expected. He yelled out half-heartedly to someone, and then started to grapple at Tony's armour. He panted and thrashed, unable to get a good grip. Tony was at a loss as of what to do, he tried to pry Steve's hands off his chest plate but that only made the other man cling harder.

Then it struck him.

"You better fucking appreciate this Rogers." Tony grumbled as he released the armour from his body, and allowed Steve to wrap his arms around his waist and hold him close. The other man settled almost immediately, his face went lax and his breathing evened out. Tony muttered something unpleasant under his breath but aloud the warmth of Steve's body heat and scent to lull him into a dreamless sleep.

Hours later, Steve slowly opened his eyes as dawn light drifted through the bunker. He was clinging to something warm, and pleasantly soft. He was reluctant to let go, whatever it was. His nose was buried in some sort of fluff?...no, hair, someone's hair. He sat up to see what was going on, taking his sleeping companion with him. He blinked as dark locks and a dishevelled goatee came into view.

"_Tony?"_

"...Zzz."


	4. The Fourth Time

Okay.

Tony considered himself of reasonable patience. Someone who could have his buttons pushed without having his head explode in anger. A man would could grin and bear it when things got unpleasant. He'd been doing that for years and considered himself a master.

But of course, every man has his limits. Little things that are more likely to make a guys fuse just that much shorter.

Tony's were the following:

Cold Coffee, Justin Beiber, Ignorance of any sort, and being woken up in the middle of the night without warning.

This was just a short list; Tony was not that well off for pet peeves. He found gripes like that to be pointless, irrational, something that would only halt progress.

However, while the things on Tony's blacklist were small in number, they were written in permanent marker and nothing in the world could erase them. So as you can imagine, when confronted with any of these things, Tony could get uncharacteristically short tempered. Luckily for the rest of the Avengers that rarely happened.

This night however, was, was one of those rare exceptions.

There was a dull throb in Tony's head, the kind that mimicked the steady rate of his heart beat and threatened to burst from his skull. He groaned and shuffled over to gaze at the clock on his bedside table, it was only 2 Am in the morning. This was already shaping up to be a bad day and Tony contemplated grabbing a sharp object and poking around in his head to find the source of the obnoxious banging.

Then, when he slightly more awake, he realised that the noise wasn't actually coming from his temple, but rather it was a distant muffled knocking. Knocking that was coming from the door.

Someone was knocking on his door at 2AM in the fucking morning.

This would not stand.

Tony forced his uncooperative body heave itself out of the cosy bed covers and stand up, swaying slightly. Walking had never been so hard before, he steadily put on foot in front of the other and stumbled to the door and the .Knocking.

Whoever was on the other side of the door was going to get their face eaten. No exceptions.

Tony turned the knob and preparing to launch a tide of abuse he opened the door and came face to face with... Steve?

Yes, it was Steve Rogers, with his hand raised in mid knock. He looked as tired as Tony felt, with sleep rumbled hair and dark circular marks under his eyes. He had also been sweating quite badly, and Tony got a whiff of it.

Wrinkling his nose in distaste, Tony managed to croak out. "Rogers?...what the hell man-" the look on the other man's face made Tony check himself, he looked scared, troubled even.

"I..." the Captain started, looking to the side or the floor, but not at Tony. "I-I sorry if I woke you...I'll just-"

Tony scrubbed his face. "Look Rogers. You obviously need something, or why would you be here? So, spill, or scram."

Steve took a moment, and then whispered out. "I couldn't sleep. I...I had a nightmare."

Tony was about to retort with "So?" but then the gears in his brain clicked and whirred into motion and he understood.

Oh.

_Oh._

Steve wanted to...

There was a painfully long pause and Tony watched as redness crept up Steve's neck to his hairline. The genius had two options; he could either close the door and go back to bed... or let Steve inside.

The expression he was getting from the other man more or less swung it, and Tony stepped aside to let Steve in.

It was still awkward, and as Tony sat down on the bed he watched Steve stand by the door and nervously look around, as if he was forbidden to be there. To try and calm his friend, the genius made a gentle 'come hither' motion with his hands and the captain quietly shuffled over and sat opposite him.

There was no talking for a while, but Tony finally broke the silence with "So... you were okay with...?"

"Yeah." Steve confirmed. "I... I kept having nightmares, but then, this one time, I sleep okay. I wake up, not tired for once and I see you." He averted his eyes. "At first I was freaked, but after it happened a few times I guessed that... I'd sleep fine of you were around-" he swallowed. "I know that two men aren't supposed to, you know, be that intimate but-"

Tony gently shushed him. "Its okay, no one has to know." Technically the whole team had seen them sleep together, but really, who would they tell?

Steve finally sighed and laid gingerly down on the pillows, Tony laid down next to him, not touching yet. But sure enough, as Steve began to drift off he reached out and held the other man in a firm but not uncomfortable grasp against his chest.

"S'good..." Steve mumbled.

Tony rolled his eyes but he was smiling. He was soon asleep too.


	5. The Fifth Time

Tony's eyes fluttered open as streaks of light peeping though the blinds were cast over his face.

He groaned. Good god he hated Mondays. Especially when he had a meeting first thing that he had to go to or Pepper would chop his privates off and feed them to him.

The genius began to untangle himself both from the silky sheets and the warm limps of his boyfriend of a glorious two months, and shimmy his way to the bathroom to get a shower. That is, that's what Tony intended to do, if Steve Rogers hadn't suddenly woken up and like a ninja rewrapped Tony in his arms again.

"Where you goin?" He asked, still sleepy, mumbling into Tony's shoulder blades.

Tony sighed. "Meeting with investors, you know, big grown up things."

Steve apparently, respectfully disagreed with this idea as his grip on Tony did not loosen but in fact only got tighter. "I thought you skipped meetings..."

"Only the ones that don't one hundred percent require me to be there." Tony replied, completely blasé. "And the ones that Pepper doesn't threatened me with horrible, horrible things if I don't attend."

Steve chuckled into Tony's skin. "That's a scary lady."

The genius nodded. "Yup. So, you going to... let me go?"

The captain was silent for a moment, as if in deep consideration, and then said. "Don't think so."

Tony huffed then shuffled around on the bed so he could face his petulant boyfriend. "Steven. Stevie. Light of my life. I wish I could stay, I do, but alas Pepper has called my elsewhere." He tried in vain to get away but Steve's grip was a stubborn as ever. "Say. Has anyone ever called you...I dunno, clingy?"

Steve looked affronted. "I'm only trying to keep you safe."

Tony felt gilt twinge in his chest when Steve said that, and he wavered. "I know, I know, and don't think I don't appreciate that, I mean, nobody would volunteer to keep Tony Stark safe."

The other man drew Tony closer and smiled gently. "Someones gotta do it. But... if it's all the same, I'd like to discuss a pay rise."

The genius could feel the hands of his boyfriend slipping down from his shoulders and curving around his hips, he also not so subtly slipped his thigh between Tony's legs.

Tony shivered and chuckled low in his throat. "Oooh, you're behaving very badly this morning."

Steve made his voice sound deep and seductive. "Maybe you should stay... to make sure I behave myself?"

At that Tony had to throw his head back and laugh out load. "Oh my god Rogers, really? You thought that would work?"

The other man looked a little deflated. "Well it was worth a try." He grumbled, and then made Bambi eyes at the still grinning genius. Tony hated those eyes with a passion, they were so big and blue and sad and it made Tony melt on the inside.

"Stop." He insisted half heartedly. "Stop, Steve, I mean it, that face should be illegal, Steeeeve." He whined. The other man had another trick up his sleeve, as he now had Tony all tangled up in sheets and limbs and was now dotting on any bare skin available small tender kisses.

And who said Captain America didn't have a dark side?

As he was being kissed, Tony took a moment to have a deep think as to what he was going to do. Of course he could always just tell Steve that he _really _couldn't stay and he _had_ to go, his boyfriend would pout and be all sad, and that would make Tony feel like the devil incarnate... but he'd get to his meeting. Or, he could send Pepper a text telling her that he would be only a _few_ minutes late, and get to be here with Steve for a few precious moments.

Hmmm.

Tony smiled and whispered quietly to his bed partner. "Okay. You win" and allowed himself to drift back to sleep with his own personal soldier protecting him.


	6. That one time he he wasn't

Tony wasn't what you would call, in tune with his emotions.

He couldn't remember the last time he cried, it would've been when he parents died, maybe, but that seemed so long ago it was almost nonexistent. He rarely, if ever thought about them. It was better that way.

Of course, he couldn't help but feel melancholy when the 15th of March rolled around... that day of the car accident that had ended their lives and changed his forever. He always did _something_ to commemorate the date, take a walk, get drunk (a personal favourite of his) or just bury himself under his work and try and shut out any feelings he may have whatsoever.

This year, had, initially looked like it wasn't going to be any different. Tony had been in what you would call a foul mood for days, and with everyone starting to avoid him out of fear of having their head bitten off; Tony was going to be alone and allowed to wallow. That's what he wanted, or at least, that's what he thought he wanted.

Steve had been on a mission overseas, and arrived back to a strangely quiet tower and a brooding Tony. He'd of course asked what the matter was, but Tony waved him off, snapped at him, and overall made it quite clear he needed isolation.

But Steve's stubbornness was legendary, and he would not give up without a fight. The whole affair ended up with Tony locking himself in his lab and Steve having a John Lennon moment and decided to camp out just outside the door until he got answers. If machines could sigh and shake their heads, then JARVIS would have been doing it 24/7. He was simply not programmed to deal with this.

The genius pretended to be annoyed by his boyfriends 'peaceful protest' and got on with some menial tasks in his workshop. He tried to stay focussed, he really did, but he kept looking over his shoulder and seeing Steve slumped against the glass wall; looking all puppy eyes and blonde curls. In these moments, Tony felt like such a selfish, egotistical bastard and that he didn't deserve to have such a man in his life. He was robbing some pretty young thing of the best boyfriend in the universe, what did Steve see in him anyway?

Tony sighed and swung himself around and around on his spinning chair; thinking hard. He didn't want Steve to have to suffer because he was so emotionally immature that he couldn't deal with his parent's death. Steve was golden, good, and far, far too decent to be dragged into Tony's messed up little brain.

After a time he got up, and walked slowly over to the door; he opened it and peered around. Steve had go up and gone. He'd obviously couldn't take Tony's crap anymore. The genius began to bang his head on the wall... stupid, stupid, stupid...

"Hey, don't do that."

Tony stopped; his head was hurting and he spun around. "Steve?" he asked.

Steve offered a smile, but it was dim, sad somehow. "I can't believe I forgot what day it is..." he said softly.

Tony swallowed. Oh. So all this hiding away was for nothing.

Neither men said or did anything for a long time. Eventually, Tony went over to Steve and flung both arms around the taller man's neck; hoping for support. Steve didn't even flinch, and he closed his own arms around Tony's waist and lifted up his head so the genius could bury his face into his neck.

"Steve..."

"It's okay Tony, it's okay."

Overhead, JARVIS whirred in approval, although it was somewhat sombre approval.


End file.
